Infernalist:I used to think that he was doing this strictly to shore up support among the ruling military class. Now...Now I have no clue what that lil bastard is up to.

He can't be serious. We all know he can't hit the U.S. How can this possibly end, except in humiliation for NK?

It's like..He's playing poker and going all-in with a handful of junk cards and we've seen them and he's still insisting that he's got a Royal Straight Full House Flush.

Yeah, this has gone long past just saber rattling for negotiating, unless he thinks that as long as he keeps upping the ante that eventually the UN restrictions will be eased. That isn't going to happen. What's more, he's Western educated in Switzerland, he knows that he's totally outmatched.

Infernalist:I used to think that he was doing this strictly to shore up support among the ruling military class. Now...Now I have no clue what that lil bastard is up to.

He can't be serious. We all know he can't hit the U.S. How can this possibly end, except in humiliation for NK?

It's like..He's playing poker and going all-in with a handful of junk cards and we've seen them and he's still insisting that he's got a Royal Straight Full House Flush.

Oh he can always stand down and claim to his people that the enemy has stood down in utter fear of their awesome armed forces. Unless he pushes just over the edge and shiat gets real. Then it'll be a matter of hours before DPRK as en entity is de facto gone.

GAT_00:Infernalist: I used to think that he was doing this strictly to shore up support among the ruling military class. Now...Now I have no clue what that lil bastard is up to.

He can't be serious. We all know he can't hit the U.S. How can this possibly end, except in humiliation for NK?

It's like..He's playing poker and going all-in with a handful of junk cards and we've seen them and he's still insisting that he's got a Royal Straight Full House Flush.

Yeah, this has gone long past just saber rattling for negotiating, unless he thinks that as long as he keeps upping the ante that eventually the UN restrictions will be eased. That isn't going to happen. What's more, he's Western educated in Switzerland, he knows that he's totally outmatched.

None of this makes sense.

And that's the part that scares me. Unpredictable nations with nuclear arms are frightening. Not quite 'PANIC' time yet, but...If I were the U.S. security apparatus, I'd be watching anything and everything coming out of NK right about now.

GAT_00:Infernalist: I used to think that he was doing this strictly to shore up support among the ruling military class. Now...Now I have no clue what that lil bastard is up to.

He can't be serious. We all know he can't hit the U.S. How can this possibly end, except in humiliation for NK?

It's like..He's playing poker and going all-in with a handful of junk cards and we've seen them and he's still insisting that he's got a Royal Straight Full House Flush.

Yeah, this has gone long past just saber rattling for negotiating, unless he thinks that as long as he keeps upping the ante that eventually the UN restrictions will be eased. That isn't going to happen. What's more, he's Western educated in Switzerland, he knows that he's totally outmatched.

None of this makes sense.

That's what makes me wonder if Un is really calling the shots.I think the salad bowl hats are really in charge, and they really believe it's still 1953.

This is like recess with the special-needs kid in his wheelchair ramming the sports jock in the ankles.If the jock punches Timmy in the face he's deemed a bully. If he does nothing Timmy will pinch his nuts with his reaching stick.

Iranian missile tech seems better than NorK's and they have been sharing tech with them...I wonder if they do have a better delivery system (Iranian-supplied) than their recent tests have suggested....

Iranian missile tech seems better than NorK's and they have been sharing tech with them...I wonder if they do have a better delivery system (Iranian-supplied) than their recent tests have suggested....

We'd have long since seen signs of it. Plus, those missiles don't exactly run on diesel fuel. It'd be hard enough to build on their own, and it'd be impossible for them to build them in secret without us knowing.

GAT_00:Eisenhower openly considered ending the Korean war with nukes. He thought it was a cheap way to wage war.

Wow I just read up and I stand corrected. It's weird that what I just referenced was a talking point that was discredited 25 years before I was even born, yet I remember at least one teacher in high school giving a whole lesson it.

My fear is that he'll float a nuke into the port of Long Beach. I have no doubt they could do this. This is exactly the scenario Oppenheimer presented to Congress back in 1945.

<i>Sen. Millikin: We... have mine-detecting devices, which are rather effective... I was wondering if anything of that kind might be available to use as a defense against that particular type of use of atomic bombs.

Dr. Oppenheimer: If you hired me to walk through the cellars of Washington to see whether there were atomic bombs, I think my most important tool would be a screwdriver to open the crates and look. I think that just walking by, swinging a little gadget would not give me the information </i>

It'd be REALLY hard to find a well hidden atomic bomb. Even given 1940's technology, the radioactive plutonium core of an implosion type bomb would weight less than 20 pounds.

SnakeLee:GAT_00: Eisenhower openly considered ending the Korean war with nukes. He thought it was a cheap way to wage war.

Wow I just read up and I stand corrected. It's weird that what I just referenced was a talking point that was discredited 25 years before I was even born, yet I remember at least one teacher in high school giving a whole lesson it.

Red Shirt Blues:SnakeLee: GAT_00: Eisenhower openly considered ending the Korean war with nukes. He thought it was a cheap way to wage war.

Wow I just read up and I stand corrected. It's weird that what I just referenced was a talking point that was discredited 25 years before I was even born, yet I remember at least one teacher in high school giving a whole lesson it.

I'm very curious. What are you saying was a disproved talking point?

Yeah, I can't quite follow what he's talking about either.

To back myself up, the directive in question was NSC 162/2. It was a directive to treat nukes the same as any other weapon in a war.

nekom:Oh he can always stand down and claim to his people that the enemy has stood down in utter fear of their awesome armed forces. Unless he pushes just over the edge and shiat gets real. Then it'll be a matter of hours before DPRK as en entity is de facto gone.

Indeed - the only question is whether or not the U.S. does it or China rolls in and does it for us.

oldfarthenry:This is like recess with the special-needs kid in his wheelchair ramming the sports jock in the ankles.If the jock punches Timmy in the face he's deemed a bully. If he does nothing Timmy will pinch his nuts with his reaching stick.

There's no easy way out of this.

This is quite possibly the best and most accurate description of this situation that I've read to date.

GAT_00:Red Shirt Blues: SnakeLee: GAT_00: Eisenhower openly considered ending the Korean war with nukes. He thought it was a cheap way to wage war.

Wow I just read up and I stand corrected. It's weird that what I just referenced was a talking point that was discredited 25 years before I was even born, yet I remember at least one teacher in high school giving a whole lesson it.

I'm very curious. What are you saying was a disproved talking point?

Yeah, I can't quite follow what he's talking about either.

To back myself up, the directive in question was NSC 162/2. It was a directive to treat nukes the same as any other weapon in a war.

I think in his original post he was inferring that Mac wanted to use the bomb. Although he was authorized to use it he never requested it.

Red Shirt Blues:GAT_00: Red Shirt Blues: SnakeLee: GAT_00: Eisenhower openly considered ending the Korean war with nukes. He thought it was a cheap way to wage war.

Wow I just read up and I stand corrected. It's weird that what I just referenced was a talking point that was discredited 25 years before I was even born, yet I remember at least one teacher in high school giving a whole lesson it.

I'm very curious. What are you saying was a disproved talking point?

Yeah, I can't quite follow what he's talking about either.

To back myself up, the directive in question was NSC 162/2. It was a directive to treat nukes the same as any other weapon in a war.

I think in his original post he was inferring that Mac wanted to use the bomb. Although he was authorized to use it he never requested it.

Yeah! I thought this thread was going to be redlit so I made a lazy joke. I had always heard that MacArthur wanted to use nukes in Korea, but Truman said no and relieved him of duty for pushing for it. It turns out that other people wanted to use Nukes and Truman authorized mobilizing them, but MacArthur was against it. It somehow got leaked to the press that it was the other way around and MacArthur was the one pushing for nukes - I am not sure if it was just bad information or they were intentionally trying to discredit him. Anyways, he had to testify against it a bunch to Congress and was ultimately exonerated. Pretty interesting Wikipedia entry although I just kind of skimmed it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_Truman%27s_relief_of_General_D o uglas_MacArthur